Stamp collecting

Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects, such as envelopes (cover)s. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with estimates of the number of collectors ranging up to 20 million in the US alone.

Collecting specialties

Many collectors specialize their collecting interest to narrow the number of possible stamps to collect. This happens mainly because the total number of postage stamps issued is in the hundreds of thousands.

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Some of the more popular collecting areas include:

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• Postage stamps - particular countries and/or time periods
• Postal stationery - includes government-issued post cards, aerograms, air letter sheets, etc.; interestingly, the earliest postal stationery predates the earliest stamps- the Kingdom of Sardinia issued the first postal letter sheets in 1819.
• Revenue stamps
• Postage Due stamps
• Federal Duck stamps (stamps for duck hunting licenses, mainly U.S. with some other countries such as Canada); the first Duck stamp was designed by noted conservationist Ding Darling, and was issued in 1934. Each year, a contest is held, in which thousands of wildlife artists compete to design the new duck stamp. The winner of the contest becomes instantly famous. Duck stamp collecting is very popular with hunters, and U.S. Duck stamps are sold by the Department of the Interior, as well as by individual states. The revenues generated by the sale of Duck stamps are used to purchase wetlands, so that they remain unspoiled.
• souvenir sheets - the many postal services sometimes release stamps in a format that look like a sheet with a big picture. Various parts of the picture can be torn out and used as postage stamps. See example with 10 stamps in one picture. (Souvenir sheets should be distinguished from souvenir cards, which are souvenirs of a philatelic meeting or exhibition but are not valid for postage.)
• first day covers - (FDCs) - envelopes with stamps attached and canceled on the first day that the stamp was issued. Most modern FDCs bear designs, called "cachets," related to the theme of the stamp issued, although the earliest do not. The first cacheted FDC was produced by prominent philatelist and cachetmaker George W. Linn in 1923, for the Harding Memorial stamp issue. Cachetmaking is considered an art form, and cachets may be produced by using any number of methods, including drawing or painting directly onto the envelope, serigraphy, block printing, lithography, engraving, laser printing, attachment of photographs or other paper memorabilia, etc.. The largest and best-known cachetmaking companies, which typically produce thousands or tens of thousands of printed cachets for U.S. stamp issues, are Artcraft, Fleetwood, House of Farnam, and Colorano.
• First Day Ceremony Programs - these are folders or brochures given out to attendees of the First Day Ceremonies of postage stamps, with historical information on the stamp, a list of speakers, and an attached stamp, canceled on the First Day of Issue. Collectors of "FDCPs" generally prefer their programs autographed by those who spoke at the ceremony.
• souvenir pages - with first day cancelled stamps on a page describing all design, printing and issuing details. This is similar to first day covers except that it is done on a printed sheet of paper instead of an envelope, and the specification of the stamp is printed by the official source. See picture of first souvenir page in the US.
• Topical - many collectors choose to organize their philatelic collection on the theme of the stamps, covers, or postmarks. Popular topical themes are animals, dogs, cats, butterflies, birds, flowers, art, sports, olympics, maps, Disney, scouting, space, ships, Americana (topics relating to the US), stamps on stamps, famous people, chess, and many others. For more information see American Topical Association and Philately.
• Philatelic literature
• Government issued material associated with postage stamps (e.g., envelopes)
• stamp-like labels
• non-stamp items picturing actual postage stamps
• non-stamp items picturing stamp-like labels
• counterfeit/forged postage stamps (Before purchasing a rare and valuable stamp for which there is any doubt as to authenticity, it is always advisable to obtain an expert's certificate stating that the stamp is authentic. The most prominent stamp expertising organizations in the U.S. are the Philatelic Foundation and the American Philatelic Society.) There are several types of collectible faked postage stamps:
• postal counterfeits are produced by criminals for fraudulent use as postage stamps; frequently, these are scarcer than the stamps which they were intended to represent
• forgeries of rare stamps
• reprints are produced by government printing offices or private organizations using the plates used to produce the original stamps; stamp catalogues often contain information on how to distinguish reprints from the originals
• faked stamps are common stamps which have been altered to resemble rare stamps; examples of such "fakery" include forged overprints, forged cancellations, chemical alterations of a stamp's color, added perforations.
• postmarks or postal markings in general
• stampless covers - not all postal markings are associated with postage stamps. Prior to the issuance of postage stamps, postmarks were applied to letters at the location where they entered the mails. The markings were either in manuscript or, at larger post offices, were made with handstamps. Many of these handstamps resemble those in use today (a circle containing the location and date of posting). Typically, the amount of postage was written in the upper right hand corner of the letter or package and the word "Paid" added to the amount if the postage was prepaid. However, a majority of letters and packages were sent without prepayment and the recipient was expected to pay the amount written on the letter or package.